Speculative fiction author. Freelance editor. Opinionated nerd.

R-1: MG MAGICAL REALISM: THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD

Title: THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD

Age Category: Middle Grade

Word Count: 53,000

Pitch: When the Luckiest Girl’s luck turns rotten, she must swallow her pride and play nice with the super show-off Luckiest Boy to get her good luck back and prevent the Yellowstone supervolcano’s eruption.

First 250 Words of the Manuscript:
The orange glitter storm wasn’t one of my better ideas. For one, glitter’s impossible to clean up. Days later, I found specks in the strangest places, like my toothbrush and under my toenails.

What’s worse though is that the glitter bomb tipped off my parents to what I’d been up to—trying to coax the super-powerful orange luck I was born with to return. Truthfully, I couldn’t believe it took them so long to realize what I’d been doing. You’d think painting myself orange or sleeping on a bed of orange peels would have done it. But no, it took the glitter fiasco, specifically the sparkly orange flecks in the mashed potatoes, for them to figure it out. I should have expected as much. Dad loves his potatoes.

But now they knew, and they weren’t on board. At all. That’s why it was such a big deal when I entered the corner convenience store in search of supplies for my next luck recovery project. My stomach knew it too. Forget somersaults. We’re talking backflips, cartwheels, and handsprings so big my entire middle ached.

The door’s bell chimed, and I jerked a moment before ducking and scooting into an aisle. Weaving through rows of pet food, candy bars, and beef jerky, I made my way to the lucky charm display at the end of the far row.